North Lenoir to induct four into its sports hall of fame

Published: Thursday, September 19, 2013 at 09:23 AM.

“They may attend Kinston, but anyone who knows me knows I’m a North Lenoir Hawk through and through,” Dunn said.

DARRYL GOFF

The sport of wrestling came naturally for Darryl Goff.

When he entered North Lenoir as a freshman, he fell in love with it, according to his high school coach Steve Zimarino.

“It just fit his personality,” Zimarino said of Goff’s entry into wrestling. “He was one of those kids who picked up on it very well. (Wrestling) is a tough, demanding sport, and he just fell in love with all aspects of the sport.”

During his high school career, Goff was a state qualifier three times and a state champion in 1993 and 1994. He also earned Eastern Regional MVP in 1994. Goff won 43 tournaments while attending North Lenoir, ending his high school career with a 241-38 record.

LA GRANGE — Friday night at halftime of its non-conference football game with East Duplin, North Lenoir will induct four men into its sports hall of fame.

PAUL DUNN III

Paul Dunn III has been either on the court as a player or on the sideline as a coach for some of the most successful years of North Lenoir basketball history.

“This means a lot to me,” Dunn said. “Forty or 50 years from now, my children’s grandchildren will be able to see this award and say, ‘Grandad was a pretty good ballplayer and coach.’

“This is a real honor to me. I worked hard as a player and I coached hard. I am proud to be a North Lenoir Hawk.”

As a player, Dunn, a powerful forward, led the Hawks to the NCHSAA 3A Eastern Regionals his junior and senior seasons of 1993 and 1994. As a coach in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, he led North Lenoir to records of 20-5 and 18-7. His .760 winning percentage as a coach is the best for any Hawks basketball coach who coached for at least two seasons.

“Paul was an outstanding student-athlete for North Lenoir,” Hawks Athletic Director Wayne Barwick said, “and his coaching record speaks for itself.”

While leading the Hawks on the court to three straight conference titles, Dunn was named all-conference three times. He was one of the team’s top scorers and its leading rebounder all three years.

Following his high school graduation in 1994, Dunn took his playing skills to Mount Olive College, where he was a four-year letterman for the Trojans basketball team. He received the Omega Psi Phi Human Relations Award and a scholarship to MOC, where he earned his degree in 2000.

At MOC, he was an all-tournament selection in the Trojan Pickle Classic in 1997 and a member of the Trojan Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He earned the Trojan Success Award from MOC in 2005.

He and his family now resides in Kinston, where he works for Dixon Social Interactive Services as the Child and Adolescent Director. He’s working towards his Masters of Science degree and hopes to earn it in 2015.

He is married to the former Tumua Sualevai and they have three sons, Darnell, Darius and Damian.

Although his sons are students at Kinston High School, Dunn is quick to point out where his heart lies.

“They may attend Kinston, but anyone who knows me knows I’m a North Lenoir Hawk through and through,” Dunn said.

DARRYL GOFF

The sport of wrestling came naturally for Darryl Goff.

When he entered North Lenoir as a freshman, he fell in love with it, according to his high school coach Steve Zimarino.

“It just fit his personality,” Zimarino said of Goff’s entry into wrestling. “He was one of those kids who picked up on it very well. (Wrestling) is a tough, demanding sport, and he just fell in love with all aspects of the sport.”

During his high school career, Goff was a state qualifier three times and a state champion in 1993 and 1994. He also earned Eastern Regional MVP in 1994. Goff won 43 tournaments while attending North Lenoir, ending his high school career with a 241-38 record.

“He was extremely dedicated and one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever coached,” Zimarino said. “He made a lot of sacrifices in his social life during his time … and it paid off for him.”

Goff went undefeated his senior year.

Zimarino, now the assistant athletic director at Croatan High School, said Goff became the only individual state champion to come out of North Lenoir when he won the state’s 3A competition in the 119 weight class in 1994.

Goff’s wrestling success, which includes coaching after high school, earned him a spot in the North Lenoir Sports Hall of Fame.

“I think it’s a long time coming,” Zimarino said about the induction. “His accomplishments outside of North Lenoir … speak for themselves and he deserved to be in the North Lenoir Hall of Fame. He represented his school very well back in his tenure.”

Goff resides in Deep Run and works at Kinston Neuse Corp. He was an assistant wrestling coach at North Lenoir, Kinston High School and Ayden-Grifton.

WAYNE JACKSON

Wayne Jackson had one of the unique perspectives of any Hawk as he was a very successful football player and later, one of the school’s best football coaches. That’s what makes Friday night’s Hall of Fame induction that much more special for him.

“This means a great deal to me, since I had a pretty good career playing at North Lenoir and coaching there for 10 years,” he said. “I was lucky to come through as a student when there was a lot of school pride.”

He was a three-sport athlete — football, basketball and baseball — for the Hawks in the 1970s, graduating in 1979. But it was on the gridiron where Jackson’s athletic skills shone the brightest.

Jackson, a hard-hitting defensive player, was an all-conference selection his junior and senior seasons and was an NCHSAA All-East honorable mention both years. He went on to play at Chowan Junior College, where he started 23 straight games and earned honorable mention All-Region 10 honors. He later graduated from Catawba College with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.

He coached at North Pitt, Wallace-Rose Hill, Greene Central and East Duplin before taking over the reins of the North Lenoir program in 1999.

As the head coach in Wheat Swamp, his teams won 38 games, trailing only Doug Hill — the coach he played for in the 1970s — by four overall victories at NL. The eight wins by the 2003 Hawks is the most for a coach in North Lenoir football history. His teams made the state playoffs five straight years (2002-06). His 2004 Hawks won the school’s only football playoff game, a 24-21 victory against Randleman.

When he resigned as North Lenoir coach in 2009, he was the second-winningest coach in school history and had the third-most victories in county history. It’s ironic that he’ll be inducted tonight as the school he now coaches for, East Duplin, will be facing his alma mater.

“My colors are now (East Duplin) blue; that’s where I coach now and I owe it to the student-athletes and my fellow coaches,” Jackson said. “But my heart is still with North Lenoir in a lot of ways. I was a Hawk and I’ll always be a Hawk.”

Jackson was an assistant in the 2006 East-West Game in Greensboro. He’s a member of the Pleasant Hill Masonic Lodge and a Sudan Temple Shriner. He’s a member of the N.C. Coaches Association and the N.C. Football Coaches Association.

Jackson has been married to the former Suzann Tyndall for 22 years; they have a son, Wiley, who is a baseball player at Pembroke College. The Jacksons currently reside in Lenoir County near Kinston.

JASON ROACH

Jason Roach proved a kid from a small town can make it big.

The former North Lenoir baseball star was drafted by the New York Mets in the 20th round in 1997. He played 11 years in the minor league and made a big league pitching debut in 2003 against the Anaheim Angels.

Roach said the love of the game and having support helped him reach that level.

“I was very lucky to have a family — a mom and dad — who supported what I was doing and who was behind me the whole way,” he said. “I had good coaching coming up the whole way, and the biggest thing was I loved doing it and I wanted to do it. I practiced a lot and worked a lot at it.”

Roach forwent basketball and soccer to pursue baseball fulltime upon entering North Lenoir. The 1994 graduate played varsity baseball from 1991-94 as a pitcher and shortstop, finishing with a .324 batting average.

He was all-conference in 1993 and 1994 before earning a scholarship to UNC Wilmington, where he set a single-season record for the longest hitting streak in 1997 with 23 games. But as his last year at North Lenoir wrapped up, he wasn’t even sure he’d make it to a Division I school.

Roach didn’t get the offer until late in his senior year, so he felt his story would encourage others to “stay with it and pursue what you’re trying to do.”

Roach recalls a team filled with talent during his tenure at North Lenoir.

“Literally, the teams we were on were winning 20 games a year, and we were very competitive,” he said. “Baseball in general was fun because we were good and we had a lot of team camaraderie. That was the most exciting part of North Lenoir baseball for me.”

He said he had a great experience in his pro career, especially when he was called up to MLB and received his own baseball card — it’s what he compared being inducted into the North Lenoir Sports Hall of Fame with.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Roach said. “North Lenoir is a small school in a small town. I think (the Hall of Fame induction) just shows a lot of people, hopefully across the county, you can make it — even being from a small place like that.”

Roach currently lives in Raleigh and is the co-owner of the city’s Diamond Stars Baseball.